Indicia-reading terminals and scanners (which may be referred to collectively as “terminals”) are available in multiple varieties. Such terminals are commonly used to read and decode information encoded in decodable or information-bearing indicia. For example, such decodable or information-bearing indicia are widely used in a variety of applications, including encoding shipping and tracking information for packages, patient identification in hospitals, and various retail applications, as well as on any number of forms and documents including, but not limited to, tax forms, order forms, transaction forms, survey forms, delivery forms, prescriptions, receipts, newspapers, product documents, reports, and the like.
In various existing applications, the use of the decodable or information-bearing indicia described above, such as bar code symbols, has become the norm for identifying products and inventory. In some cases, a particular item may be marked with decodable indicia associated with a description of the item, as well as other attributes (for example, price or patient identification) related to the item that are stored in a database of a host device or network system. The indicia-reading terminals and scanners described above may be used to read the decodable indicia and provide the resultant reading as input information to a variety of host devices. In some cases, the reading may be provided to the host devices via base units or “cradles,” which may communicate with a particular indicia-reading terminal or scanner. Examples of host devices include hospital patient care systems, computers (both stationary and portable), personal digital assistants (PDA), portable data terminals (PDT), point of sale (POS) terminals, transaction terminals, cash registers, servers, and similar devices.
According to some techniques, the indicia-reading terminals and scanners described above, and electronic devices generally, may be tethered or physically “corded” to one or more external power sources configured to provide operating power to the indicia-reading terminals and scanners. For example, to perform one or more functions, a particular corded indicia-reading terminal or scanner may draw operating power in the form of an electrical current from a power source that is located externally relative to the electronic device, and to which the indicia-reading terminal or scanner is corded.